Greenpeace accuses the UvA of using coal-generated power

In researching the power sources of Dutch public institutions, Greenpeace found that 75 per cent buy polluting forms of energy. This includes the UvA, which buys coal-generated power with a ‘green certificate’. ‘Institutions buy coal-generated power, which is sold as “green” by adding a wind or water energy certificate,’ says a spokesperson for Greenpeace.

The UvA denies the claim: ‘We have been using [energy supplier] EON since 2017. We chose a one-hundred per cent wind package, with certificates that guarantee the energy to be Dutch-generated and green. The certificates provide information about where the energy is produced. They also prove that the energy is green,’ says spokesman Yasha Lange.

Polluting supplier
‘It is possible that the UvA believes that it is using wind energy,’ says Greenpeace. ‘However, our research has repeatedly demonstrated that EON is a very polluting company. The UvA should know better.’ Every year Greenpeace ranks the most polluting energy suppliers with EON consistently placing high on their list. ‘We would like to see the UvA change to a green energy supplier.’

The UvA is not the only facility accused in Amsterdam. The academic hospital AMC also buys coal-generated energy – even without the so-called ‘green certificate’.